Simon Cowell said, "Without 'Bandstand,' without Dick, there would be no 'American Idol.'" Ryan Seacrest told Clark, "I personally want to thank you -- what you've done for our industry, for music and for me. I'm proud to be your friend."

"Did I write that for you?" joked the still-feisty stroke survivor, before tearing up during a standing ovation.

Maura West nabbed Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in 'As the World Turns' -- her last chance, as the awards show said goodbye to the 53-year-old series. Her tearful daughter joined her onstage, and they thanked the voters with a curtsy.

Game show emcees Wayne Brady ('Let's Make a Deal'), Jeff Foxworthy ('Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?') and Alex Trebek ('Jeopardy') have just been added to the list of presenters at this year's Daytime Emmy Awards.

That's in addition to Regis Philbin, who'll host the show, and multi-hyphenate-host Ryan Seacrest, who will introduce a tribute to Dick Clark and 'American Bandstand.' Donny Osmond, Chubby Checker, Tony Orlando and the Jersey Boys head the line-up of stars who'll take part in the tribute.

'General Hospital's Vanessa Marcil will also present at the awards ceremony, which will be broadcast live from the Las Vegas Hilton on Sun., Jun. 27 on CBS.

As one of TV's most prolific producers, Dick Clark is tribute-worthy at nearly any awards event. And at this year's Daytime Emmys ceremony, the 'American Bandstand' and '$25,000 Pyramid' host will be the focus of a star-studded homage that will include appearances by Simon Cowell, Cher, Jay Leno and Garth Brooks.

Variety.com reports that producers have rounded up a parade of celebs to toast Clark during the Sunday, June 27 CBS telecast of the Daytime Emmys. Curiously, Clark's 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' co-host Ryan Seacrest isn't listed among those who'll celebrate Clark, though Barry Manilow, Marie Osmond, Frankie Avalon, Ann-Margaret and The Spinners are.

The CW certainly seems to have embraced their new goal of pushing the entire network in a very "female" direction. They've scheduled their new fall preview special on Sunday, August 30 at 6:30 PM, smack between a special spotlighting the top ten moments from The Tyra Banks Show and their red carpet coverage of the night's Daytime Emmy Awards.

That's nestled in a huge bed of estrogen from where I'm sitting. No wonder a show like Reaper didn't make it if this is the new demographic The CW is seeking. The manliest shows on the network are Supernatural and Smallville, and both of those do well with the ladies, certainly better than Sock did. Other than that, it's Gossip Girl, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model -- how did this happen?

It's almost all teen dramas now, and it's definitely skewing female. They managed to abandon comedies and African-American featured shows in one fell swoop by canceling Everybody Hates Chris and The Game, and they dumped the hellishly fun Reaper. All that's left is pretty people pouting. Is this what America wanted out of our fifth network?

For the first time in a long time, something was different about the Daytime Emmys. No, it's not that they're on in primetime; that happened years ago. What was different was the 35th Daytime Emmys opted to forgo the theater setting and seat the stars at round tables. As co-host (with All My Children's Cameron Mathison) Sherri Shepherd told the AP days before the AP, "Usually everyone is sitting in a row. This year, it'll be like a wedding. We're also going to do something so that fans will be able to get a view of what's going on at the different tables." That would be web video created by the actors at every table - table cam. Perfect for hams. The vids are at SOAPnet. For details about the show from the winners backstage, check out AOL.

So did the seating arrangements make a difference? Well, it depends. Those who were there probably had a better time because there was an open bar, just like the Golden Globes. For viewers, it still looked like the Daytime Emmys, including many familiar faces winning. After a strained attempt at comedy for the opening -- blending All My Children fictional characters with The View's real hosts -- the show commenced.%Gallery-25799%

Oh yeah, here's a great idea: allow obsessive soap opera fans to be on stage about ten feet from actors and actresses.

That's the plan for the Daytime Emmy Awards this Friday (9pm on CBS, right after Bob Barker's final episode on The Price Is Right). They're going to have a special red carpet bleacher section on stage, where selected fans will be able to scream and yell and take pictures. And if you think my headline isn't true, here's a quote from Young and the Restless veteran Peter Bergman:

"Just presenting, you could be accosted. Lucky me...it ends up being almost silliness. It's not how I want to celebrate a career achievement."

That's not all. They're also asking fans to send in comments via the web site, and some of these comments will be inserted into award introductions.

I reported on the Daytime Emmy Award nominations yesterday and noted that Live with Regis & Kelly wasn't nominated in the Best Talk Show category. While that's technically true, the show was nominated in another category for morning shows. They'll go up against The Today Show, Good Morning, America and Univision's Despierta America in a new category. Regis still wasn't nominated for Best Host though.

Oh, and Regis is doing quite fine after heart bypass surgery yesterday. Kelly Ripa announced the news on the show this morning. One of his doctors said that Reege has "the heart of a 19 year-old." It wasn't clear which 19 year-old this was, but hopefully they will give it back to this person so they can also live a long, healthy life.

Those cruel Emmy bastards. Here Regis Philbin is today, recuperating from his heart bypass surgery (unless it's still going on, which is possible), and he doesn't even get a nomination for Best Talk Show or Host!

Ellen got a nod though, and she led all nominees with 12 nominations. Going up against her for Best Talk Show are Dr. Phil, The View, Tyra Banks, and Rachael Ray. If she's not the winner out of that group, something is wrong somewhere. She's also up for Best Talk Show Host, with the same nominees and also Lisa Rinna, who apparently hosts something called Soap Talk.

The shows up for Best Soap are Guiding Light, The Young and the Restless, One Life To Live, and The Bold and the Beautiful. Bob Barker got a nomination for The Price Is Right. His last day on that show is in June.